Why Two is a Great Team Size
A team of two hits the sweet spot in productivity and skills.
Working on a new web development project as a team of two, I’m struck by just how productive it is.
No time is wasted in meetings. When we do meet, we get things done. Decisions are made quickly; momentum is all there is.
When I started my software business in 2005, we were also a team of two. We completed our first project in a matter of weeks, including familiarizing ourselves with the Ruby on Rails framework.
There is something special about teams of two. They hit a sweet spot in productivity and skills. They often outperform both teams of one and teams of three.
In a team of one, no one balances you out. If you take a wrong turn, no one corrects you. If you get stuck in a rabbit hole, no one helps you. If you drift into distractions, no one pulls you back. You can focus on your work, but what you miss is guardrails and perspective.
A team of three has more skills than a team of two, but at a steep price in overhead. The number of relationships triples, and what used to be a quick call has now turned into a scheduled meeting. Put simply, you get 150% capability at 300% the coordination cost. You just introduced drag.
Sometimes the need for more skills and capacity is strong enough to justify some measure of drag. However, the trade-off does not manage itself, and most organizations are not equipped to manage it. The extra mass will slow you down unless you understand its dynamics. That’s why a team of two should be the default.
Look around and you see successful teams of two everywhere. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Innovation prefers the company of two complementary minds.
Recently, I watched the 1973 movie The Day of the Jackal, in which Inspector Lebel is tasked with hunting down an assassin hired to kill President De Gaulle. When offered the full resources of the French government, Lebel asks for only one colleague: “Just Caron.” He understands why two is the right size for his team.
So when you take on a challenging task, start with a team of two. Don’t mobilize an army. Be like Inspector Lebel.
“No one else, just Caron.”